Long before anyone called it a “daily huddle,” John D. Rockefeller had stumbled upon the value of the short daily meeting.
Rockefeller would walk to work with his brother and three key leaders every morning. During that walk, they discussed what was happening across the business, what decisions needed to be made, and where problems were beginning to surface.
He then walked home with the same group.
It was simple, consistent, and powerful.
That daily conversation helped Rockefeller stay connected to his growing enterprise without waiting for a weekly report or a crisis to unfold. Information moved quickly, priorities stayed visible, and obstacles could be addressed before they became expensive.
After working with more than 350 landscape companies, I have seen many of the best-run firms rely on this same “Rockefeller habit.”
Great Lakes Landscape Design, co-host of our Summer Growth Summit, is a perfect example. During the summit they will share how their production huddles drive efficiency right to the bottom line.
In my experience, the daily huddle needs to happen at a few different levels: with your production teams, with your leadership team, and possibly with sales.
Production Huddles – Start the Day Right
Most landscape companies understand the importance of getting crews out of the yard quickly. But speed without alignment will backfire and create inefficiencies.
A short 10–15 minute production huddle gives crews and supervisors the opportunity to review the previous day, plan the day ahead, and surface concerns and questions.
Typical recurring topics include:
- Safety
- Department calendar
- Key metrics
- Current issues
- Preparedness
Huddles are most effective when paired with a huddle board or visual scoreboard that tracks agenda items, metrics, and action items.
They also allow you to surface employee concerns and make people feel heard.
A good huddle protects both your crews and your productivity while giving everyone a stronger sense of ownership and teamwork.
Leadership Huddles – Keep Departments Aligned
Leadership teams have similar needs.
As an owner, you may want to huddle with your direct reports to discuss what is keeping each person awake at night and ensure everyone has their finger on the pulse of the business.
Steve Jobs famously had lunch every day with design leader Jony Ive to keep innovation moving forward. Even experienced managers need regular alignment, and waiting an entire week for a leadership meeting may be too long.
Our client, Greg Semmer of Semmer Landscape in Chicago, has a head of operations and recently hired a sales manager. The three of them huddle every day and have lunch together each week.
This approach is especially valuable when a leadership team is new. It gives the owner greater confidence to delegate responsibility without losing visibility.
A leadership huddle can focus on three questions:
- What is happening today? Share the most important meetings, commitments, or decisions.
- What do the numbers tell us? Review a few leading and lagging indicators.
- Where are you stuck? Identify approvals, missing information, client issues, or departmental conflicts slowing the company down.
Huddles expose problems, but they should not solve every problem.
- Some issues should move to the weekly leadership meeting.
- Others can be handled outside the huddle by the appropriate people.
Your Challenge: Make Your Huddles Stick
Production and leadership huddles fail for the same reasons: lack of preparation, commitment, and consistency.
- Start on time.
- Keep everyone standing to maintain energy and pace.
- Use a timer and create a firm stopping point.
Participants should arrive knowing exactly what they need to report. When people show up late, ramble, or come unprepared, the meeting quickly becomes ineffective and eventually disappears.
For the next 30 days, try running a daily production, leadership, sales, shop, or design huddle. Keep each meeting to 15 minutes and measure the results.
You should see greater efficiency, stronger performance, and more problems prevented before they become expensive.
Regards,
Jeffrey Scott
To learn how to implement production huddles in your company, join us at our Summer Growth Summit, where Great Lakes Landscape Design will share its proven approach.
Early Bird pricing ends July 10. Register now and save $300 per ticket.
